HP Color LaserJet Pro 4201dw: Cost to Run, One Rate, Two Prices
The HP Color LaserJet Pro 4201dw is a print-only color laser printer with duplex printing and Wi-Fi, selling for $700. It runs $3.08 in black and $17.75 in color, per 100 pages. That black figure traces to HP's HP-210X cartridge, priced at $231 for a 7,500-page yield.
The HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301fdw sells for $860 and posts $17.75 in color and $3.08 in black per 100 pages — the exact figures the 4201dw carries as well. That match ties the 4201dw for 3rd of 13 color laser printers on black cost per page, a tie held with the 4301fdw alone. Its higher price adds scan, copy and fax capability plus a touchscreen, none of which the 4201dw has.
Across every type InkTax tracks, the 4201dw sits 35th of 97 printers on black-and-white cost per page, squarely in the middle of the field. Within color laser printers specifically, the running-cost floor belongs to the Canon Color imageCLASS LBP674Cdw II, whose $2.86 black and $17.26 color figures per 100 pages beat the 4201dw on both counts. It also costs less up front, $681, and adds a touchscreen the 4201dw doesn't have.
Stepping down within HP's own line, the HP Color LaserJet Pro 3201dw sells for $400 but climbs to $3.59 black and $18.94 color per 100 pages, a rate its fax-equipped sibling, the MFP 3301fdw, matches at $640.
For a color option outside the laser class, the Canon PIXMA G3270 tank printer sells for $249 and runs $0.38 black and $0.97 color per 100 pages, far under the 4201dw's marks. It drops duplex printing and lacks Ethernet. It also prints far slower, at 11 ppm, against the 4201dw's 35 ppm speed.